George becomes a “doer” — in the truest sense

OK, don’t get me wrong — I like George. We all do, and we want him to get a little lovin’ from someone who won’t leave him, um, itchy. And we’ve all watched him pant after Meredith for god-knows-how-long. But how many of us actually want to see them together? And like this?

I’ll say this much — she might not leave him with a disease, but he’s got to be crazy to think she won’t leave him with a broken heart.

Anyway, let’s rewind a little. No explosions this week, but a lot of action nonetheless.

Things start out good for Cristina and Burke. He arrives home to find her blaring her iPod, bumpin’ and grindin’ in the kitchen; Burke loosens up enough to shake his groove thang too! But the party’s over when he answers a call from her landlord — you know, the landlord who should have stopped being her landlord when she gave up her apartment to live with him, right?

Cristina can’t believe he’s upset — what, does he think she’s keeping her apartment to hide stolen goods, or to perform illegal transplants or something? Meredith suggests maybe he’s just upset that she lied. Hmm… it could be the most sensible thing Mer has said all season.

Meanwhile, Meredith is trying to shake the image of her mother having a sexy fling with a colleague — a tidbit Ellis reveals when Mer visits her. That Ellis Grey was a wild one in her day! Needless to say, these aren’t the kind of details Meredith wants to hear. But more importantly, who could have — what was it? — made Ellis “purr like a kitten?” Oh, if only Mer knew what we do…

A sexy stranger (guest star Eric Dane) flirts with Mer at work, but before he can properly introduce himself, his chiseled face gets introduced to McDreamy’s fist! You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure out that this is Mark — the Mark who came between Addison and McDreamy back in New York.

Worthless, home-wrecking jerk that we know Mark to be, he makes some pretty good points. “We’re dirty mistresses,” he tells Mer. He notes that McDreamy just walked away when he caught him in bed with Addy; McDreamy witnesses him so much as talking to Mer, and he decks him! Wonder what that’s about…

Well, Izzie, Cristina and Meredith think Mark is HOT. They shall call him… McSteamy! Alex thinks the guy’s a god for his professional (and likely, sexual) prowess. George declares that he might McVomit if he hears any more of it. Oh, George.

The patients this week are pretty darn interesting too. Two of them are:

· Pamela, a woman afflicted by spontaneous orgasms! Seven or eight a day, she says. Izzie, who’s still getting her engine revved by Alex, doesn’t exactly feel sorry for her.

· Jake, a teen with a severely disfigured face. He needs brain surgery for his condition, but slick Dr. Mark weasels his way into the case by suggesting plastic surgery while he’s under. Jake loves the idea; his parents are skeptical; McDreamy is against it and just wants Mark the heck out of Seattle.

Which begs the question — why exactly is Mark in town? Well, it’s simple. He’s still in love with Addison. Mark professes to Addy that her husband didn’t know what they had, that they stayed together even after McDreamy left. The thought of this guy being in loooove doesn’t ring true, but hey, I’ll buy it if it advances the Mer/Der storyline.

Back in the OR — you know, where these people work — Jake does not survive his brain surgery. Mark chooses to go ahead with the plastic surgery. Yeah, it was the kid’s dying wish and all that, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense considering that Jake will never see his new face, which will never heal. But in contrast with other parts of this episode, I guess it’s not all that far-fetched.

The Mer-McDreamy-Addison-Mark quadrangle moves along when Mark asks Addy to let go of her failing marriage and meet him at the bar across the street.

Flash forward to the bar, and Mer is waxing poetic over cocktails with Mark. Addy’s not there; she’s in the trailer with McDreamy, but she honestly looks like she’d rather be anywhere else — they both do.

Burke is still mad at Cristina for lying to him, but please, when is there not some sort of issue with these two? He blows off some steam, then says he loves her! Of course, Cristina already knows since he previously told her when (he thought) she was sleeping. She tells him she just gave up her apartment — which, for Cristina, is pretty much like saying it back.

George, still determined to follow Izzie’s lead and become a “doer,” tries throughout the entire episode to confess his love to Mer. Mostly, she blows him off. Poor George. We love him, but I don’t think we’re quite ready for where this all takes him.

Finally finding Mer alone in her room, George walks in, closing the door behind him. He tells her he’s not a renowned surgeon, but he’ll never leave her, and he’ll always love her. Aww. We get the sense that Mer is listening more to the rain outside than to what George is saying, and — whoa! What the heck?!? She starts to disrobe him and moves in for what looks like George’s fantasy realized. And this is the part where George wakes up and realizes it was all a dream, right? Right???